Wallace Wattles - The Science of Getting Rich

7/28/2019 Wallace Wattles - The Science of Getting Rich

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Wallace Wattles The Science Of Getting Rich

http://AllTooSimple.com

Wallace Wattles

The Science Of Getting Richhttp://AllTooSimple.com
http://alltoosimple.com/http://alltoosimple.com/http://alltoosimple.com/


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Contents

Preface ........................................................................................ 3

The Right to Be Rich.................................................................. 5

There is A Science...................................................................... 8

Is Opportunity Monopolized?................................................... 12

The First Principle .................................................................... 16Increasing Life.......................................................................... 22

How Riches Come to You........................................................ 28

Gratitude ................................................................................... 33

Thinking in the Certain Way .................................................... 37How to Use the Will ................................................................. 42

Further Use of the Will............................................................. 47

Acting in the Certain Way........................................................ 53

Efficient Action ........................................................................ 59

Getting into the Right Business................................................ 64

The Impression of Increase....................................................... 68

The Advancing Man ................................................................. 72

Cautions & Concluding Observations ...................................... 76Summary................................................................................... 81

The 7 Keys to Success.............................................................. 83


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Preface

This book is pragmatical, not philosophical; a practical manual,

not a treatise upon theories. It is intended for the men andwomen whose most pressing need is for money; who wish to get

rich first, and philosophize afterward. It is for those who have,

so far, found neither the time, the means, nor the opportunity to

go deeply into the study of metaphysics, but who want results

and who are willing to take the conclusions of science as a basis

for action, without going into all the processes by which those

conclusions were reached.

It is expected that the reader will take the fundamental

statements upon faith, just as he would take statements

concerning a law of electrical action if they were promulgated

by a Marconi or an Edison; and, taking the statements upon

faith, that he will prove their truth by acting upon them without

fear or hesitation. Every man or woman who does this will

certainly get rich; for the science herein applied is an exact

science, and failure is impossible. For the benefit, however, o

those who wish to investigate philosophical theories and so

secure a logical basis for faith, I will here cite certain authorities.

The monistic theory of the universe the theory that One is All,

and that All is One; That one Substance manifests itself as the

seeming many elements of the material world -is of Hindu

origin, and has been gradually winning its way into the thought

of the western world for two hundred years. It is the foundation

of all the Oriental philosophies, and of those of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, Schopenhauer, Hegel, and Emerson.

The reader who would dig to the philosophical foundations o

this is advised to read Hegel and Emerson for himself.

In writing this book I have sacrificed all other considerations to

plainness and simplicity of style, so that all might understand.

The plan of action laid down herein was deduced from the

conclusions of philosophy; it has been thoroughly tested, and


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bears the supreme test of practical experiment; it works. If you

wish to know how the conclusions were arrived at, read the

writings of the authors mentioned above; and if you wish to reap

the fruits of their philosophies in actual practice, read this book

and do exactly as it tells you to do.


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The Right to Be Rich

WHATEVER may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains

that it is not possible to live a really complete or successful life

unless one is rich. No man can rise to his greatest possibleheight in talent or soul development unless he has plenty o

money; for to unfold the soul and to develop talent he must have

many things to use, and he cannot have these things unless he

has money to buy them with.

A man develops in mind, soul, and body by making use o

things, and society is so organized that man must have money in

order to become the possessor of things; therefore, the basis o all advancement for man must be .

The object of all life is development; and everything that lives

has an inalienable right to all the development it is capable o

attaining.

Man's right to life means his right to have the free and

unrestricted use of all the things which may be necessary to his

fullest mental, spiritual, and physical unfoldment; or, in other

words, his right to be rich.

In this book, I shall not speak of riches in a figurative way; to be

really rich does not mean to be satisfied or contented with a

little. No man ought to be satisfied with a little if he is capable

of using and enjoying more. The purpose of Nature is the

advancement and unfoldment of life; and every man should have

all that can contribute to the power; elegance, beauty, andrichness of life; to be content with less is sinful.

The man who owns all he wants for the living of all the life he is

capable of living is rich; and no man who has not plenty o

money can have all he wants. Life has advanced so far, and

become so complex, that even the most ordinary man or woman

requires a great amount of wealth in order to live in a manner

that even approaches completeness. Every person naturally


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wants to become all that they are capable of becoming; this

desire to realize innate possibilities is inherent in human nature;

we cannot help wanting to be all that we can be. Success in life

is becoming what you want to be; you can become what you

want to be only by making use of things, and you can have the free use of things only as you become rich enough to buy them.

To understand is therefore the most

essential of all knowledge.

There is nothing wrong in wanting to get rich. The desire for

riches is really the desire for a richer, fuller, and more abundant

life; and that desire is praise worthy. The man who does not

desire to live more abundantly is abnormal, and so the man who

does not desire to have money enough to buy all he wants is

abnormal.

There are three motives for which we live; we live for the body,

we live for the mind, we live for the soul. No one of these is

better or holier than the other; all are alike desirable, and no one

of the three--body, mind, or soul--can live fully if either of the

others is cut short of full life and expression. It is not right or

noble to live only for the soul and deny mind or body; and it is

wrong to live for the intellect and deny body or soul.

We are all acquainted with the loathsome consequences of living

for the body and denying both mind and soul; and we see that

reallife means the complete expression of all that man can give

forth through body, mind, and soul. Whatever he can say, no

man can be really happy or satisfied unless his body is living

fully in every function, and unless the same is true of his mindand his soul. Wherever there is unexpressed possibility, or

function not performed, there is unsatisfied desire. Desire is

possibility seeking expression, or function seeking performance.

Man cannot live fully in body without good food, comfortable

clothing, and warm shelter; and without freedom from excessive

toil. Rest and recreation are also necessary to his physical life .


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He cannot live fully in mind without books and time to study

them, without opportunity for travel and observation, or without

intellectual companionship.

To live fully in mind he must have intellectual recreations, and

must surround himself with all the objects of art and beauty he is

capable of using and appreciating.

To live fully in soul, man must have love; and love is denied

expression by poverty.

A man's highest happiness is found in the bestowal of benefits

on those he loves; love finds its most natural and spontaneous

expression in giving. The man who has nothing to give cannot fill his place as a husband or father, as a citizen, or as a man. It

is in the use of material things that a man finds full life for his

body, develops his mind, and unfolds his soul. It is therefore o

supreme importance to him that he should be rich.

It is perfectly right that you should desire to be rich; if you are anormal man or woman you cannot help doing so. It is perfectly

right that you should give your best attention to the Science o Getting Rich, for it is the noblest and most necessary of all

studies. If you neglect this study, you are derelict in your duty to

yourself, to God and humanity; for you can render to God and

humanity no greater service than to make the most of yourself.


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There is A Science

THERE is a Science of getting rich, and it is an exact science,

like algebra or arithmetic. There are certain laws which govern

the process of acquiring riches; once these laws are learned andobeyed by any man, he will get rich with mathematical

certainty.

The ownership of money and property comes as a result o

doing things in a certain way; those who do things in this

Certain Way, whether on purpose or accidentally, get rich; while

those who do not do things in this Certain Way, no matter how

hard they work or how able they are, remain poor.

It is a natural law that like causes always produce like effects;

and, therefore, any man or woman who learns to do things in

this certain way will infallibly get rich.

That the above statement is true is shown by the following facts:

Getting rich is not a matter of environment, for, if it were, all the

people in certain neighborhoods would become wealthy; thepeople of one city would all be rich, while those of other towns

would all be poor; or the inhabitants of one state would roll in

wealth, while those of an adjoining state would be in poverty.

But everywhere we see rich and poor living side by side, in the

same environment, and often engaged in the same vocations.

When two men are in the same locality, and in the same

business, and one gets rich while the other remains poor, it

shows that getting rich is not, primarily, a matter o

environment. Some environments may be more favorable than

others, but when two men in the same business are in the same

neighborhood, and one gets rich while the other fails, it indicates

that getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way.

And further, the ability to do things in this certain way is not due

solely to the possession of talent, for many people who have


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great talent remain poor, while other who have very little talent

get rich.

Studying the people who have got rich, we find that they are an

average lot in all respects, having no greater talents and abilities

than other men. It is evident that they do not get rich because

they possess talents and abilities that other men have not, but

because they happen to do things in a Certain Way.

Getting rich is not the result of saving, or "thrift"; many very

penurious people are poor, while free spenders often get rich.

Nor is getting rich due to doing things which others fail to do;

for two men in the same business often do almost exactly thesame things, and one gets rich while the other remains poor or

becomes bankrupt.

From all these things, we must come to the conclusion that

getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way.

If getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way, and

if like causes always produce like effects, then any man or

woman who can do things in that way can become rich, and the

whole matter is brought within the domain of exact science.

The question arises here, whether this Certain Way may not be

so difficult that only a few may follow it. This cannot be true, as

we have seen, so far as natural ability is concerned. Talented

people get rich, and blockheads get rich; intellectually brilliant

people get rich, and very stupid people get rich; physically

strong people get rich, and weak and sickly people get rich.

Some degree of ability to think and understand is, of course,

essential; but in so far natural ability is concerned, any man or

woman who has sense enough to read and understand these

words can certainly get rich.


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Also, we have seen that it is not a matter of environment.

Location counts for something; one would not go to the heart o

the Sahara and expect to do successful business.

Getting rich involves the necessity of dealing with men, and o

being where there are people to deal with; and if these people

are inclined to deal in the way you want to deal, so much the

better. But that is about as far as environment goes.

If anybody else in your town can get rich, so can you; and i

anybody else in your state can get rich, so can you.

Again, it is not a matter of choosing some particular business or

profession. People get rich in every business, and in everyprofession; while their next door neighbors in the same vocation

remain in poverty.

It is true that you will do best in a business which you like, and

which is congenial to you; and if you have certain talents which

are well developed, you will do best in a business which calls for the exercise of those talents.

Also, you will do best in a business which is suited to your

locality; an ice-cream parlor would do better in a warm climate

than in Greenland, and a salmon fishery will succeed better in

the Northwest than in Florida, where there are no salmon.

But, aside from these general limitations, getting rich is not

dependent upon your engaging in some particular business, but

upon your learning to do things in a Certain Way. If you are

now in business, and anybody else in your locality is getting rich

in the same business, while you are not getting rich, it is because

you are not doing things in the same Way that the other person

is doing them.

No one is prevented from getting rich by lack of capital. True, as

you get capital the increase becomes more easy and rapid; but

one who has capital is already rich, and does not need to

consider how to become so. No matter how poor you may be, i


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you begin to do things in the Certain Way you will begin to get

rich; and you will begin to have capital. The getting of capital is

a part of the process of getting rich; and it is a part of the result

which invariably follows the doing of things in the Certain Way.

You may be the poorest man on the continent, and be deeply indebt; you may have neither friends, influence, nor resources; but

if you begin to do things in this way, you must infallibly begin

to get rich, for like causes must produce like effects. If you have

no capital, you can get capital; if you are in the wrong business,

you can get into the right business; if you are in the wrong

location, you can go to the right location; and you can do so by

beginning in your present business and in your present location

to do things in the Certain Way which causes success.


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Is Opportunity Monopolized?

NO man is kept poor because opportunity has been taken away

from him; because other people have monopolized the wealth,

and have put a fence around it. You may be shut off from engaging in business in certain lines, but there are other

channels open to you. Probably it would be hard for you to get

control of any of the great railroad systems; that field is pretty

well monopolized. But the electric railway business is still in its

infancy, and offers plenty of scope for enterprise; and it will be

but a very few years until traffic and transportation through theair will become a great industry, and in all its branches will give

employment to hundreds of thousands, and perhaps to millions,of people. Why not turn your attention to the development o

aerial transportation, instead of competing with J.J. Hill and

others for a chance in the steam railway world?

It is quite true that if you are a workman in the employ of the

steel trust you have very little chance of becoming the owner o

the plant in which you work; but it is also true that if you will

commence to act in a Certain Way, you can soon leave the employ of the steel trust; you can buy a farm of from ten to forty

acres, and engage in business as a producer of foodstuffs. There

is great opportunity at this time for men who will live upon

small tracts of land and cultivate the same intensively; such men

will certainly get rich. You may say that it is impossible for you

to get the land, but I am going to prove to you that it is not

impossible, and that you can certainly get a farm if you will go

to work in a Certain Way.

At different periods the tide of opportunity sets in different

directions, according to the needs of the whole, and the

particular stage of social evolution which has been reached. At

present, in America, it is setting toward agriculture and the

allied industries and professions. To-day, opportunity is open

before the factory worker in his line. It is open before the

business man who supplies the farmer more than before the one

who supplies the factory worker; and before the professional


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man who waits upon the farmer more than before the one who

serves the working class.

There is abundance of opportunity for the man who will go with

the tide, instead of trying to swim against it.

So the factory workers, either as individuals or as a class, are not

deprived of opportunity. The workers are not being "kept down"

by their masters; they are not being "ground" by the trusts and

combinations of capital. As a class, they are where they are

because they do not do things in a Certain Way. If the workers

of America chose to do so, they could follow the example o

their brothers in Belgium and other countries, and establish great

department stores and co-operative industries; they could elect

men of their own class to office, and pass laws favoring the

development of such co-operative industries; and in a few years

they could take peaceable possession of the industrial field.

The working class may become the master class whenever they

will begin to do things in a Certain Way; the law of wealth is the

same for them as it is for all others. This they must learn; and

they will remain where they are as long as they continue to do asthey do. The individual worker, however, is not held down by

the ignorance or the mental slothfulness of his class; he can

follow the tide of opportunity to riches, and this book will tell

him how.

No one is kept in poverty by a shortness in the supply of riches;

there is more than enough for all. A palace as large as the capitol

at Washington might be built for every family on earth from thebuilding material in the United States alone; and under intensive

cultivation, this country would produce wool, cotton, linen, and

silk enough to cloth each person in the world finer than Solomon

was arrayed in all his glory; together with food enough to feed

them all luxuriously.

The visible supply is practically inexhaustible; and the invisible

supply really IS inexhaustible.


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verything you see on earth is made from one original

substance, out of which all things proceed.

New Forms are constantly being made, and older ones are

dissolving; but all are shapes assumed by One Thing.

There is no limit to the supply of Formless Stuff, or Original

Substance. The universe is made out of it; but it was not all used

in making the universe. The spaces in, through, and between the

forms of the visible universe are permeated and filled with the

Original Substance; with the formless Stuff; with the raw

material of all things. Ten thousand times as much as has been

made might still be made, and even then we should not have

exhausted the supply of universal raw material.

No man, therefore, is poor because nature is poor, or because

there is not enough to go around.

Nature is an inexhaustible storehouse of riches; the supply will

never run short. Original Substance is alive with creative energy, and is constantly producing more forms. When the supply o

building material is exhausted, more will be produced; when thesoil is exhausted so that food stuffs and materials for clothing

will no longer grow upon it, it will be renewed or more soil will

be made. When all the gold and silver has been dug from the

earth, if man is still in such a stage of social development that he

needs gold and silver, more will produced from the Formless.

The Formless Stuff responds to the needs of man; it will not let

him be without any good thing.

This is true of man collectively; the race as a whole is always

abundantly rich, and if individuals are poor, it is because they do

not follow the Certain Way of doing things which makes the

individual man rich.

The Formless Stuff is intelligent; it is stuff which thinks. It is

alive, and is always impelled toward more life.


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It is the natural and inherent impulse of life to seek to live more;

it is the nature of intelligence to enlarge itself, and o

consciousness to seek to extend its boundaries and find fuller

expression. The universe of forms has been made by Formless

Living Substance, throwing itself into form in order to express itself more fully.

The universe is a great Living Presence, always moving

inherently toward more life and fuller functioning.

Nature is formed for the advancement of life; its impelling

motive is the increase of life. For this cause, everything which

can possibly minister to life is bountifully provided; there can be

no lack unless God is to contradict himself and nullify his own

works.

You are not kept poor by lack in the supply of riches; it is a fact

which I shall demonstrate a little farther on that even the

resources of the Formless Supply are at the command of the man

or woman will act and think in a Certain Way.


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directly from primal substance, without waiting for the slow

processes of the organic and inorganic world.

o thought of form can be impressed upon Original Substance

without causing the creation of the form.

Man is a thinking center, and can originate thought. All the

forms that man fashions with his hands must first exist in his

thought; he cannot shape a thing until he has thought that thing.

And so far man has confined his efforts wholly to the work o

his hands; he has applied manual labor to the world of forms,

seeking to change or modify those already existing. He has

never thought of trying to cause the creation of new forms byimpressing his thoughts upon Formless Substance.

When man has a thought-form, he takes material from the forms

of nature, and makes an image of the form which is in his mind.

He has, so far, made little or no effort to co-operate with

Formless Intelligence; to work "with the Father." He has notdreamed that he can "do what he seeth the Father doing." Man

reshapes and modifies existing forms by manual labor; he hasgiven no attention to the question whether he may not produce

things from Formless Substance by communicating his thoughts

to it. We propose to prove that he may do so; to prove that any

man or woman may do so, and to show how. As our first step,

we must lay down three fundamental propositions.

First, we assert that there is one original formless stuff, or

substance, from which all things are made. All the seemingly

many elements are but different presentations of one element; all

the many forms found in organic and inorganic nature are but

different shapes, made from the same stuff. And this stuff is

thinking stuff; a thought held in it produces the form of the

thought. Thought, in thinking substance, produces shapes. Man

is a thinking center, capable of original thought; if man can

communicate his thought to original thinking substance, he can

cause the creation, or formation, of the thing he thinks about. To

summarize this--


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There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and

which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the

interspaces of the universe.

thought, in this substance, Produces the thing that is imaged

by the thought.

an can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his

thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing he thinks

about to be created.

It may be asked if I can prove these statements; and without

going into details, I answer that I can do so, both by logic and

experience.

Reasoning back from the phenomena of form and thought, I

come to one original thinking substance; and reasoning forward

from this thinking substance, I come to man's power to cause the

formation of the thing he thinks about.

And by experiment, I find the reasoning true; and this is my

strongest proof.

If one man who reads this book gets rich by doing what it tells

him to do, that is evidence in support of my claim; but if every

man who does what it tells him to do gets rich, that is positive

proof until some one goes through the process and fails. The

theory is true until the process fails; and this process will not

fail, for every man who does exactly what this book tells him to

do will get rich.

I have said that men get rich by doing things in a Certain Way;

and in order to do so, men must become able to think in a certain

way.

man's way of doing things is the direct result of the way he

thinks about things.


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To do things in a way you want to do them, you will have to

acquire the ability to think the way you want to think; this is the

first step toward getting rich.

To think what you want to think is to think TRUTH, regardless

of appearances.

Every man has the natural and inherent power to think what he

wants to think, but it requires far more effort to do so than it

does to think the thoughts which are suggested by appearances.

To think according to appearance is easy; to think truth

regardless of appearances is laborious, and requires the

expenditure of more power than any other work man is called

upon to perform.

There is no labor from which most people shrink as they do

from that of sustained and consecutive thought; it is the hardest

work in the world. This is especially true when truth is contrary

to appearances. Every appearance in the visible world tends to

produce a corresponding form in the mind which observes it;

and this can only be prevented by holding the thought of the

TRUTH.

To look upon the appearance of disease will produce the form o

disease in your own mind, and ultimately in your body, unless

you hold the thought of the truth, which is that there is no

disease; it is only an appearance, and the reality is health.

To look upon the appearances of poverty will produce

corresponding forms in your own mind, unless you hold to the

truth that there is no poverty; there is only abundance.

To think health when surrounded by the appearances of disease,

or to think riches when in the midst of appearances of poverty,

requires power; but he who acquires this power becomes a

MASTER MIND. He can conquer fate; he can have what he

wants.


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This power can only be acquired by getting hold of the basic

fact which is behind all appearances; and that fact is that there is

one Thinking Substance, from which and by which all things are

made.

Then we must grasp the truth that every thought held in this

substance becomes a form, and that man can so impress his

thoughts upon it as to cause them to take form and become

visible things.

When we realize this, we lose all doubt and fear, for we know

that we can create what we want to create; we can get what we

want to have, and can become what we want to be. As a first

step toward getting rich, you must believe the three fundamental

statements given previously in this chapter; and in order to

emphasize them. I repeat them here:--




thought, in this substance, Produces the thing that is imagedby the thought.




You must lay aside all other concepts of the universe than this

monistic one; and you must dwell upon this until it is fixed in

your mind, and has become your habitual thought. Read these

creed statements over and over again; fix every word upon your

memory, and meditate upon them until you firmly believe what

they say. If a doubt comes to you, cast it aside as a sin. Do not

listen to arguments against this idea; do not go to churches or

lectures where a contrary concept of things is taught or

preached. Do not read magazines or books which teach a

different idea; if you get mixed up in your faith, all your efforts

will be in vain.


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Do not ask why these things are true, nor speculate as to how

they can be true; simply take them on trust.

begins with the absolute acceptance

of this faith.


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Increasing Life

YOU must get rid of the last vestige of the old idea that there is

a Deity whose will it is that you should be poor, or whosepurposes may be served by keeping you in poverty.

The Intelligent Substance which is All, and in All, and which

lives in All and lives in you, is a consciously Living Substance.

Being a consciously living substance, It must have the nature

and inherent desire of every living intelligence for increase o

life. Every living thing must continually seek for the

enlargement of its life, because life, in the mere act of living,

must increase itself.

A seed, dropped into the ground, springs into activity, and in the

act of living produces a hundred more seeds; life, by living,

multiplies itself. It is forever Becoming More; it must do so, if it

continues to be at all.

Intelligence is under this same necessity for continuous increase.

Every thought we think makes it necessary for us to thinkanother thought; consciousness is continually expanding. Every

fact we learn leads us to the learning of another fact; knowledge

is continually increasing. Every talent we cultivate brings to the

mind the desire to cultivate another talent; we are subject to the

urge of life, seeking expression, which ever drives us on to

know more, to do more, and to be more.

In order to know more, do more, and be more we must have

more; we must have things to use, for we learn, and do, and

become, only by using things. We must get rich, so that we can

live more.

The desire for riches is simply the capacity for larger life

seeking fulfillment; every desire is the effort of an unexpressed

possibility to come into action. It is power seeking to manifestwhich causes desire. That which makes you want more money is


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the same as that which makes the plant grow; it is Life, seeking

fuller expression.

The One Living Substance must be subject to this inherent law

of all life; it is permeated with the desire to live more; that is

why it is under the necessity of creating things.

The One Substance desires to live more in you; hence it wants

you to have all the things you can use.

It is the desire of God that you should get rich. He wants you to

get rich because he can express himself better through you i

you have plenty of things to use in giving him expression. He

can live more in you if you have unlimited command of the means of life.

The universe desires you to have everything you want to have.

Nature is friendly to your plans.

Everything is naturally for you.

Make up your mind that this is true.

It is essential, however that our purpose should harmonize with

the purpose that is in All.

You must want real life, not mere pleasure of sensual

gratification. Life is the performance of function; and the

individual really lives only when he performs every function,

physical, mental, and spiritual, of which he is capable, without

excess in any.

You do not want to get rich in order to live swinishly, for the

gratification of animal desires; that is not life. But the

performance of every physical function is a part of life, and no

one lives completely who denies the impulses of the body a

normal and healthful expression.


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You do not want to get rich solely to enjoy mental pleasures, to

get knowledge, to gratify ambition, to outshine others, to be

famous. All these are a legitimate part of life, but the man who

lives for the pleasures of the intellect alone will only have a

partial life, and he will never be satisfied with his lot.

You do not want to get rich solely for the good of others, to lose

yourself for the salvation of mankind, to experience the joys o

philanthropy and sacrifice. The joys of the soul are only a part o

life; and they are no better or nobler than any other part.

You want to get rich in order that you may eat, drink, and be

merry when it is time to do these things; in order that you may

surround yourself with beautiful things, see distant lands, feed

your mind, and develop your intellect; in order that you may

love men and do kind things, and be able to play a good part in

helping the world to find truth.

But remember that extreme altruism is no better and no nobler

than extreme selfishness; both are mistakes.

Get rid of the idea that God wants you to sacrifice yourself forothers, and that you can secure his favor by doing so; God

requires nothing of the kind.

What he wants is that you should make the most of yourself, for

yourself, and for others; and ou can help others more by

making the most of yourself than in any other way.

You can make the most of yourself only by getting rich; so it is

right and praiseworthy that you should give your first and best

thought to the work of acquiring wealth.

Remember, however, that the desire of Substance is for all, and

its movements must be for more life to all; it cannot be made to

work for less life to any, because it is equally in all, seeking

riches and life.


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Intelligent Substance will make things for you, but it will not

take things away from some one else and give them to you.

You must get rid of the thought of competition. You are to

create, not to compete for what is already created.

You do not have to take anything away from any one.

You do not have to drive sharp bargains.

You do not have to cheat, or to take advantage. You do not need

to let any man work for you for less than he earns.

You do not have to covet the property of others, or to look at it

with wishful eyes; no man has anything of which you cannot

have the like, and that without taking what he has away from

him.

You are to become a creator, not a competitor; you are going to

get what you want, but in such a way that when you get it every

other man will have more than he has now.

I am aware that there are men who get a vast amount of moneyby proceeding in direct opposition to the statements in the

paragraph above, and may add a word of explanation here. Men

of the plutocratic type, who become very rich, do so sometimes

purely by their extraordinary ability on the plane of competition;

and sometimes they unconsciously relate themselves to

Substance in its great purposes and movements for the general

racial upbuilding through industrial evolution. Rockefeller,

Carnegie, Morgan, et al., have been the unconscious agents o the Supreme in the necessary work of systematizing and

organizing productive industry; and in the end, their work will

contribute immensely toward increased life for all. Their day is

nearly over; they have organized production, and will soon be

succeeded by the agents of the multitude, who will organize the

machinery of distribution.


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The multi-millionaires are like the monster reptiles of the

prehistoric eras; they play a necessary part in the evolutionary

process, but the same Power which produced them will dispose

of them. And it is well to bear in mind that they have never been

really rich; a record of the private lives of most of this class willshow that they have really been the most abject and wretched o

the poor.

Riches secured on the competitive plane are never satisfactory

and permanent; they are yours to-day, and another's tomorrow.

Remember, if you are to become rich in a scientific and certain

way, you must rise entirely out of the competitive thought. You

must never think for a moment that the supply is limited. Just as

soon as you begin to think that all the money is being "cornered"

and controlled by bankers and others, and that you must exert

yourself to get laws passed to stop this process, and so on; in

that moment you drop into the competitive mind, and your

power to cause creation is gone for the time being; and what is

worse, you will probably arrest the creative movements you

have already instituted.

KNOW that there are countless millions of dollars' worth o

gold in the mountains of the earth, not yet brought to light; and

know that if there were not, more would be created from

Thinking Substance to supply your needs.

KNOW that the money you need will come, even if it is

necessary for a thousand men to be led to the discovery of new

gold mines to-morrow.

ever look at the visible supply; look always at the limitless

riches in Formless Substance, and KNOW that they are coming

to you as fast as you can receive and use them . Nobody, by

cornering the visible supply, can prevent you from getting what

is yours.

So never allow yourself to think for an instant that all the best

building spots will be taken before you get ready to build your

house, unless you hurry. Never worry about the trusts and


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combines, and get anxious for fear they will soon come to own

the whole earth. Never get afraid that you will lose what you

want because some other person "beats you to it." That cannot

possibly happen; you are not seeking any thing that is possessed

by anybody else; you are causing what you want to be createdfrom formless Substance, and the supply is without limits. Stick

to the formulated statement:--




thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is image

by the thought.





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How Riches Come to You

WHEN I say that you do not have to drive sharp bargains, I do

not mean that you do not have to drive any bargains at all, or

that you are above the necessity for having any dealings withyour fellow men. I mean that you will not need to deal with

them unfairly; you do not have to get something for nothing, but

can give to every man more than you take from him.

You cannot give every man more in cash market value than you

take from him, but you can give him more in use value than the

cash value of the thing you take from him. The paper, ink, and

other material in this book may not be worth the money you payfor it; but if the ideas suggested by it bring you thousands o

dollars, you have not been wronged by those who sold it to you;

they have given you a great use value for a small cash value.

Let us suppose that I own a picture by one of the great artists,

which, in any civilized community, is worth thousands o

dollars. I take it to Baffin Ray, and by "salesmanship" induce an

Eskimo to give a bundle of furs worth $ 500 for it. I have really

wronged him, for he has no use for the picture; it has no use

value to him; it will not add to his life.

But suppose I give him a gun worth $50 for his furs; then he has

made a good bargain. He has use for the gun; it will get him

many more furs and much food; it will add to his life in every

way; it will make him rich.

When you rise from the competitive to the creative plane, youcan scan your business transactions very strictly, and if you are

selling any man anything which does not add more to his life

than the thing he give you in exchange, you can afford to stop it.

You do not have to beat anybody in business. And if you are in a

business which does beat people, get out of it at once.


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Give every man more in use value than you take from him in

cash value; then you are adding to the life of the world by every

business transaction.

If you have people working for you, you must take from them

more in cash value than you pay them in wages; but you can so

organize your business that it will be filled with the principle o

advancement, and so that each employee who wishes to do so

may advance a little every day.

You can make your business do for your employees what this

book is doing for you. You can so conduct your business that it

will be a sort of ladder, by which every employee who will take

the trouble may climb to riches himself; and given the

opportunity, if he will not do so it is not your fault.

And finally, because you are to cause the creation of your riches

from Formless Substance which permeates all your

environment, it does not follow that they are to take shape from

the atmosphere and come into being before your eyes.

If you want a sewing machine, for instance, I do not mean to tell you that you are to impress the thought of a sewing machine on

Thinking Substance until the machine is formed without hands,

in the room where you sit, or elsewhere. But if you want a

sewing machine, hold the mental image of it with the most

positive certainty that it is being made, or is on its way to you.

After once forming the thought, have the most absolute and

unquestioning faith that the sewing machine is coming; never

think of it, or speak, of it, in any other way than as being sure toarrive. Claim it as already yours.

It will be brought to you by the power of the Supreme

Intelligence, acting upon the minds of men. If you live in Maine,

it may be that a man will be brought from Texas or Japan to

engage in some transaction which will result in your getting

what you want.


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If so, the whole matter will be as much to that man's advantage

as it is to yours.

Do not forget for a moment that the Thinking Substance is

through all, in all, communicating with all, and can influence all.

The desire of Thinking Substance for fuller life and better living

has caused the creation of all the sewing machines already

made; and it can cause the creation of millions more, and will,

whenever men set it in motion by desire and faith, and by acting

in a Certain Way.

You can certainly have a sewing machine in your house; and it

is just as certain that you can have any other thing or things

which you want, and which you will use for the advancement o

your own life and the lives of others.

You need not hesitate about asking largely; "it is your Father's

pleasure to give you the kingdom, " said Jesus.

Original Substance wants to live all that is possible in you, and wants you to have all that you can or will use for the living o

the most abundant life.

If you fix upon your consciousness the fact that the desire you

feel for the possession of riches is one with the desire o

Omnipotence for more complete expression, your faith becomes

invincible.

Once I saw a little boy sitting at a piano, and vainly trying to

bring harmony out of the keys; and I saw that he was grieved

and provoked by his inability to play real music. I asked him the

cause of his vexation, and he answered, "I can feel the music in

me, but I can't make my hands go right." The music in him was

the URGE of Original Substance, containing all the possibilities

of all life; all that there is of music was seeking expression

through the child.

God, the One Substance, is trying to live and do and enjoy

things through humanity. He is saying "I want hands to build


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wonderful structures, to play divine harmonies, to paint glorious

pictures; I want feet to run my errands, eyes to see my beauties,

tongues to tell mighty truths and to sing marvelous songs," and

so on.

All that there is of possibility is seeking expression through

men. God wants those who can play music to have pianos and

every other instrument, and to have the means to cultivate their

talents to the fullest extent; He wants those who can appreciate

beauty to be able to surround themselves with beautiful things;

He wants those who can discern truth to have every opportunity

to travel and observe; He wants those who can appreciate dress

to be beautifully clothed, and those who can appreciate good

food to be luxuriously fed.

He wants all these things because it is Himself that enjoys and

appreciates them; it is God who wants to play, and sing, and

enjoy beauty, and proclaim truth and wear fine clothes, and eat

good foods. "it is God that worketh in you to will and to do,"

said Paul.

The desire you feel for riches is the infinite, seeking to express Himself in you as He sought to find expression in the little boy

at the piano.

So you need not hesitate to ask largely.

Your part is to focalize and express the desire to God.

This is a difficult point with most people; they retain something

of the old idea that poverty and self-sacrifice are pleasing to

God. They look upon poverty as a part of the plan, a necessity o

nature. They have the idea that God has finished His work, and

made all that He can make, and that the majority of men must

stay poor because there is not enough to go around. They hold to

so much of this erroneous thought that they feel ashamed to ask

for wealth; they try not to want more than a very modest

competence, just enough to make them fairly comfortable.


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I recall now the case of one student who was told that he must

get in mind a clear picture of the things he desired, so that the

creative thought of them might be impressed on Formless

Substance. He was a very poor man, living in a rented house,

and having only what he earned from day to day; and he could not grasp the fact that all wealth was his. So, after thinking the

matter over, he decided that he might reasonably ask for a new

rug for the floor of his best room, and an anthracite coal stove to

heat the house during the cold weather. Following the

instructions given in this book, he obtained these things in a few

months; and then it dawned upon him that he had not asked

enough. He went through the house in which he lived, and

planned all the improvements he would like to make in it; hementally added a bay window here and a room there, until it was

complete in his mind as his ideal home; and then he planned its

furnishings.

Holding the whole picture in his mind, he began living in the

Certain Way, and moving toward what he wanted; and he owns

the house now, and is rebuilding it after the form of his mental

image. And now, with still larger faith, he is going on to get

greater things. It has been unto him according to his faith, and it

is so with you and with all of us.


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Gratitude

THE illustrations given in the last chapter will have conveyed to

the reader the fact that the first step toward getting rich is to

convey the idea of your wants to the Formless Substance.

This is true, and you will see that in order to do so it becomes

necessary to relate yourself to the Formless Intelligence in a

harmonious way.

To secure this harmonious relation is a matter of such primary

and vital importance that I shall give some space to its

discussion here, and give you instructions which, if you will

follow them, will be certain to bring you into perfect unity o

mind with God.

The whole process of mental adjustment and atonement can be

summed up in one word, gratitude.

First, you believe that there is one Intelligent Substance, from

which all things proceed; second, you believe that this

Substance gives you everything you desire; and third, you relateyourself to it by a feeling of deep and profound gratitude.

Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are

kept in poverty by their lack of gratitude. Having received one

gift from God, they cut the wires which connect them with Him

by failing to make acknowledgment.

It is easy to understand that the nearer we live to the source o

wealth, the more wealth we shall receive; and it is easy also to

understand that the soul that is always grateful lives in closer

touch with God than the one which never looks to Him in

thankful acknowledgment.

The more gratefully we fix our minds on the Supreme when

good things come to us, the more good things we will receive,

and the more rapidly they will come; and the reason simply is


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that the mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer

touch with the source from which the blessings come.

If it is a new thought to you that gratitude brings your whole

mind into closer harmony with the creative energies of the

universe, consider it well, and you will see that it is true. The

good things you already have have come to you along the line o

obedience to certain laws. Gratitude will lead your mind out

along the ways by which things come; and it will keep you in

close harmony with creative thought and prevent you from

falling into competitive thought.

Gratitude alone can keep you looking toward the All, and

prevent you from falling into the error of thinking of the supply

as limited; and to do that would be fatal to your hopes.

There is a Law of Gratitude, and it is absolutely necessary that

you should observe the law, if you are to get the results you

seek.

The law of gratitude is the natural principle that action and

reaction are always equal, and in opposite directions.

The grateful outreaching of your mind in thankful praise to the

Supreme is a liberation or expenditure of force; it cannot fail to

reach that to which it addressed, and the reaction is an

instantaneous movement towards you.

"Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you." That is

a statement of psychological truth.

And if your gratitude is strong and constant, the reaction in

Formless Substance will be strong and continuous; the

movement of the things you want will be always toward you.

Notice the grateful attitude that Jesus took; how He always

seems to be saying, "I thank Thee, Father, that Thou hearest

me." You cannot exercise much power without gratitude; for it

is gratitude that keeps you connected with Power.


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But the value of gratitude does not consist solely in getting you

more blessings in the future. Without gratitude you cannot long

keep from dissatisfied thought regarding things as they are.

The moment you permit your mind to dwell with dissatisfaction

upon things as they are, you begin to lose ground. You fix

attention upon the common, the ordinary, the poor, and the

squalid and mean; and your mind takes the form of these things.

Then you will transmit these forms or mental images to the

Formless, and the common, the poor, the squalid, and mean will

come to you.

To permit your mind to dwell upon the inferior is to become

inferior and to surround yourself with inferior things.

On the other hand, to fix your attention on the best is to

surround yourself with the best, and to become the best.

The Creative Power within us makes us into the image of that to

which we give our attention.

We are Thinking Substance, and thinking substance always

takes the form of that which it thinks about.

The grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best; therefore it

tends to become the best; it takes the form or character of the

best, and will receive the best.

Also, faith is born of gratitude. The grateful mind continually

expects good things, and expectation becomes faith. The

reaction of gratitude upon one's own mind produces faith; and every outgoing wave of grateful thanksgiving increases faith. He

who has no feeling of gratitude cannot long retain a living faith;

and without a living faith you cannot get rich by the creative

method, as we shall see in the following chapters.

It is necessary, then, to cultivate the habit of being grateful for

every good thing that comes to you; and to give thanks

continuously.


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And because all things have contributed to your advancement,

you should include all things in your gratitude.

Do not waste time thinking or talking about the shortcomings or

wrong actions of plutocrats or trust magnates. Their organization

of the world has made your opportunity; all you get really comes

to you because of them.

Do not rage against, corrupt politicians; if it were not for

politicians we should fall into anarchy, and your opportunity

would be greatly lessened.

God has worked a long time and very patiently to bring us up to

where we are in industry and government, and He is going righton with His work. There is not the least doubt that He will do

away with plutocrats, trust magnates, captains of industry, and

politicians as soon as they can be spared; but in the meantime,

behold they are all very good. Remember that they are all

helping to arrange the lines of transmission along which your

riches will come to you, and be grateful to them all. This will

bring you into harmonious relations with the good in everything,

and the good in everything will move toward you.


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Thinking in the Certain Way

TURN back to chapter 6 and read again the story of the man

who formed a mental image of his house, and you will get a fairidea of the initial step toward getting rich. You must form a

clear and definite mental picture of what you want; you cannot

transmit an idea unless you have it yourself.

You must have it before you can give it; and many people fail to

impress Thinking Substance because they have themselves only

a vague and misty concept of the things they want to do, to have,

or to become.

It is not enough that you should have a general desire for wealth

"to do good with"; everybody has that desire.

It is not enough that you should have a wish to travel, see things,

live more, etc. Everybody has those desires also. If you were

going to send a wireless message to a friend, you would not send

the letters of the alphabet in their order, and let him construct the

message for himself; nor would you take words at random fromthe dictionary. You would send a coherent sentence; one which

meant something. When you try to impress your wants upon

Substance, remember that it must be done by a coherent

statement; you must know what you want, and be definite. You

can never get rich, or start the creative power into action, by

sending out unformed longings and vague desires.

Go over your desires just as the man I have described went over

his house; see just what you want, and get a clear mental picture

of it as you wish it to look when you get it.

That clear mental picture you must have continually in mind, as

the sailor has in mind the port toward which he is sailing the

ship; you must keep your face toward it all the time. You must

no more lose sight of it than the steersman loses sight of thecompass.


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It is not necessary to take exercises in concentration, nor to set

apart special times for prayer and affirmation, nor to "go into the

silence," nor to do occult stunts of any kind. There things are

well enough, but all you need is to know what you want, and to

want it badly enough so that it will stay in your thoughts.

Spend as much of your leisure time as you can in contemplating

your picture, but no one needs to take exercises to concentrate

his mind on a thing which he really wants; it is the things you do

not really care about which require effort to fix your attention

upon them.

And unless you really want to get rich, so that the desire is

strong enough to hold your thoughts directed to the purpose as

the magnetic pole holds the needle of the compass, it will hardly

be worth while for you to try to carry out the instructions given

in this book.

The methods herein set forth are for people whose desire for

riches is strong enough to overcome mental laziness and the

love of ease, and make them work.

The more clear and definite you make your picture then, and the

more you dwell upon it, bringing out all its delightful details, the

stronger your desire will be; and the stronger your desire, the

easier it will be to hold your mind fixed upon the picture of what

you want.

Something more is necessary, however, than merely to see the

picture clearly. If that is all you do, you are only a dreamer, and

will have little or no power for accomplishment.

Behind your clear vision must be the purpose to realize it; to

bring it out in tangible expression.

And behind this purpose must be an invincible and unwavering

FAITH that the thing is already yours; that it is "at hand" and

you have only to take possession of it.


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Live in the new house, mentally, until it takes form around you

physically. In the mental realm, enter at once into full enjoyment

of the things you want.

"Whatsoever things ye ask for when ye pray, believe that ye

receive them, and ye shall have them," said Jesus.

See the things you want as if they were actually around you all

the time; see yourself as owning and using them. Make use o

them in imagination just as you will use them when they are

your tangible possessions. Dwell upon your mental picture until

it is clear and distinct, and then take the Mental Attitude o

Ownership toward everything in that picture. Take possession o

it, in mind, in the full faith that it is actually yours. Hold to this

mental ownership; do not waiver for an instant in the faith that it

is real.

And remember what was said in a proceeding chapter about

gratitude; be as thankful for it all the time as you expect to be

when it has taken form. The man who can sincerely thank God

for the things which as yet he owns only in imagination, has real

faith. He will get rich; he will cause the creation of whatsoeverhe wants.

You do not need to pray repeatedly for things you want; it is not

necessary to tell God about it every day.

"Use not vain repetitions as the heathen do," said Jesus said to

his pupils, "for your Father knoweth the ye have need of these

things before ye ask Him."

Your part is to intelligently formulate your desire for the things

which make for a larger life, and to get these desire arranged

into a coherent whole; and then to impress this Whole Desire

upon the Formless Substance, which has the power and the will

to bring you what you want.


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You do not make this impression by repeating strings of words;

you make it by holding the vision with unshakable PURPOSE to

attain it, and with steadfast FAITH that you do attain it.

The answer to prayer is not according to your faith while you

are talking, but according to your faith while you are working.

You cannot impress the mind of God by having a special

Sabbath day set apart to tell Him what you want, and the

forgetting Him during the rest of the week. You cannot impress

Him by having special hours to go into your closet and pray, i

you then dismiss the matter from your mind until the hour o

prayer comes again.

Oral prayer is well enough, and has its effect, especially upon

yourself, in clarifying your vision and strengthening your faith;

but it is not your oral petitions which get you what you want. In

order to get rich you do not need a "sweet hour of prayer"; you

need to "pray without ceasing." And by prayer I mean holding

steadily to your vision, with the purpose to cause its creation

into solid form, and the faith that you are doing so.

"Believe that ye receive them."

The whole matter turns on receiving, once you have clearly

formed your vision. When you have formed it, it is well to make

an oral statement, addressing the Supreme in reverent prayer;

and from that moment you must, in mind, receive what you ask

for. Live in the new house; wear the fine clothes; ride in the

automobile; go on the journey, and confidently plan for greater

ourneys. Think and speak of all the things you have asked for in

terms of actual present ownership. Imagine an environment, and

a financial condition exactly as you want them, and live all the

time in that imaginary environment and financial condition.

Mind, however, that you do not do this as a mere dreamer and

castle builder; hold to the FAITH that the imaginary is being

realized, and to the PURPOSE to realize it. Remember that it is

faith and purpose in the use of the imagination which make the

difference between the scientist and the dreamer. And having


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learned this fact, it is here that you must learn the proper use o

the Will.


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How to Use the Will

TO set about getting rich in a scientific way, you do not try to

apply your will power to anything outside of yourself.

Your have no right to do so, anyway.

It is wrong to apply your will to other men and women, in order

to get them to do what you wish done.

It is as flagrantly wrong to coerce people by mental power as itis to coerce them by physical power. If compelling people by

physical force to do things for you reduces them to slavery,compelling them by mental means accomplishes exactly the

same thing; the only difference is in methods. If taking things

from people by physical force is robbery, them taking things by

mental force is robbery also; there is no difference in principle.

You have no right to use your will power upon another person,

even "for his own good"; for you do not know what is for his

good. does not require you to apply

power or force to any other person, in any way whatsoever.

There is not the slightest necessity for doing so; indeed, any

attempt to use your will upon others will only tend to defeat

your purpose.

You do not need to apply your will to things, in order to compel

them to come to you.

That would simply be trying to coerce God, and would befoolish and useless, as well as irreverent.

You do not have to compel God to give you good things, any

more than you have to use your will power to make the sun rise.

You do not have to use your will power to conquer an

unfriendly deity, or to make stubborn and rebellious forces do

your bidding.


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Substance is friendly to you, and is more anxious to give you

what you want than you are to get it.

To get rich, you need only to use your will power upon yourself.

When you know what to think and do, then you must use your

will to compel yourself to think and do the right things. That is

the legitimate use of the will in getting what you want--to use it

in holding yourself to the right course. Use your will to keep

yourself thinking and acting in the Certain Way.

Do not try to project your will, or your thoughts, or your mind

out into space, to "act" on things or people.

Keep your mind at home; it can accomplish more there than

elsewhere.

Use your mind to form a mental image of what you want, and to

hold that vision with faith and purpose; and use your will to

keep your mind working in the Right Way.

The more steady and continuous your faith and purpose, the

more rapidly you will get rich, because you will make only

POSITIVE impressions upon Substance; and you will not

neutralize or offset them by negative impressions.

The picture of your desires, held with faith and purpose, is taken

up by the Formless, and permeates it to great distances-

throughout the universe, for all I know.

As this impression spreads, all things are set moving toward its realization; every living thing, every inanimate thing, and the

things yet uncreated, are stirred toward bringing into being that

which you want. All force begins to be exerted in that direction;

all things begin to move toward you. The minds of people,

everywhere, are influenced toward doing the things necessary to

the fulfilling of your desires; and they work for you,

unconsciously.


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But you can check all this by starting a negative impression in

the Formless Substance. Doubt or unbelief is as certain to start a

movement away from you as faith and purpose are to start one

toward you. It is by not understanding this that most people who

try to make use of "mental science" in getting rich make theirfailure. Every hour and moment you spend in giving heed to

doubts and fears, every hour you spend in worry, every hour in

which your soul is possessed by unbelief, sets a current away

from you in the whole domain of intelligent Substance. All the

promises are unto them that believe, and unto them only. Notice

how insistent Jesus was upon this point of belief; and now you

know the reason why.

Since belief is all important, it behooves you to guard your

thoughts; and as your beliefs will be shaped to a very great

extent by the things you observe and think about, it is important

that you should command your attention.

And here the will comes into use; for it is by your will that you

determine upon what things your attention shall be fixed.

If you want to become rich, you must not make a study o poverty.

Things are not brought into being by thinking about their

opposites. Health is never to be attained by studying disease and

thinking about disease; righteousness is not to be promoted by

studying sin and thinking about sin; and no one ever got rich by

studying poverty and thinking about poverty.

Medicine as a science of disease has increased disease; religion

as a science of sin has promoted sin, and economics as a study

of poverty will fill the world with wretchedness and want.

Do not talk about poverty; do not investigate it, or concern

yourself with it. Never mind what its causes are; you have

nothing to do with them.

What concerns you is the cure.


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Do not spend your time in charitable work, or charity

movements; all charity only tends to perpetuate the

wretchedness it aims to eradicate.

I do not say that you should be hard hearted or unkind, and

refuse to hear the cry of need; but you must not try to eradicate

poverty in any of the conventional ways. Put poverty behind

you, and put all that pertains to it behind you, and "make good."

Get rich; that is the best way you can help the poor.

And you cannot hold the mental image which is to make you

rich if you fill your mind with pictures of poverty. Do not read

books or papers which give circumstantial accounts of thewretchedness of the tenement dwellers, of the horrors of child

labor, and so on. Do not read anything which fills your mind

with gloomy images of want and suffering.

You cannot help the poor in the least by knowing about these

things; and the wide-spread knowledge of them does not tend at all to do away with poverty.

What tends to do away with poverty is not the getting of pictures

of poverty into your mind, but getting pictures of wealth into the

minds of the poor.

You are not deserting the poor in their misery when you refuse

to allow your mind to be filled with pictures of that misery.

Poverty can be done away with, not by increasing the number o

well to do people who think about poverty, but by increasing thenumber of poor people who purpose with faith to get rich.

The poor do not need charity; they need inspiration. Charity

only sends them a loaf of bread to keep them alive in their

wretchedness, or gives them an entertainment to make them

forget for an hour or two; but inspiration will cause them to rise

out of their misery. If you want to help the poor, demonstrate to


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them that they can become rich; prove it by getting rich

yourself.

The only way in which poverty will ever be banished from this

world is by getting a large and constantly increasing number o

people to practice the teachings of this book.

People must be taught to become rich by creation, not by

competition.

Every man who becomes rich by competition throws down

behind him the ladder by which he rises, and keeps others down;

but every man who gets rich by creation opens a way for

thousands to follow him, and inspires them to do so.

You are not showing hardness of heart or an unfeeling

disposition when you refuse to pity poverty, see poverty, read

about poverty, or think or talk about it, or to listen to those who

do talk about it. Use your will power to keep your mind OFF the

subject of poverty, and to keep it fixed with faith and purposeON the vision of what you want.


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Further Use of the Will

YOU cannot retain a true and clear vision of wealth if you are

constantly turning your attention to opposing pictures, whetherthey be external or imaginary.

Do not tell of your past troubles of a financial nature, if you

have had them, do not think of them at all. Do no tell of the

poverty of your parents, or the hardships of your early life; to do

any of these things is to mentally class yourself with the poor for

the time being, and it will certainly check the movement o

things in your direction.

"Let the dead bury their dead," as Jesus said.

Put poverty and all things that pertain to poverty completely

behind you.

You have accepted a certain theory of the universe as being

correct, and are resting all your hopes of happiness on its being

correct; and what can you gain by giving heed to conflicting

theories?

Do not read religious books which tell you that the world is soon

coming to an end; and do not read the writing of muck-rakers

and pessimistic philosophers who tell you that it is going to the

devil.

The world is not going to the devil; it is going to God.

It is wonderful Becoming.

True, there may be a good many things in existing conditions

which are disagreeable; but what is the use of studying themwhen they are certainly passing away, and when the study o

them only tends to check their passing and keep them with us?

Why give time and attention to things which are being removed

by evolutionary growth, when you can hasten their removal only


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by promoting the evolutionary growth as far as your part of it

goes?

No matter how horrible in seeming may be the conditions in

certain countries, sections, or places, you waste your time and

destroy your own chances by considering them.

You should interest yourself in the world's becoming rich.

Think of the riches the world is coming into, instead of the

poverty it is growing out of; and bear in mind that the only way

in which you can assist the world in growing rich is by growing

rich yourself through the creative method--not the competitive

one.

Give your attention wholly to riches; ignore poverty.

Whenever you think or speak of those who are poor, think and

speak of them as those who are becoming rich;as those who are

to be congratulated rather than pitied. Then they and others will

catch the inspiration, and begin to search for the way out.

Because I say that you are to give your whole time and mind and

thought to riches, it does not follow that you are to be sordid or

mean.

To become really rich is the noblest aim you can have in life, for

it includes everything else.

On the competitive plane, the struggle to get rich is a Godless

scramble for power over other men; but when we come into the creative mind, all this is changed.

All that is possible in the way of greatness and soul unfoldment,

of service and lofty endeavor, comes by way of getting rich; all

is made possible by the use of things.

If you lack for physical health, you will find that the attainment

of it is conditional on your getting rich.


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Only those who are emancipated from financial worry, and who

have the means to live a care-free existence and follow hygienic

practices, can have and retain health.

Moral and spiritual greatness is possible only to those who are

above the competitive battle for existence; and only those who

are becoming rich on the plane of creative thought are free from

the degrading influences of competition. If your heart is set on

domestic happiness, remember that love flourishes best where

there is refinement, a high level of thought, and freedom from

corrupting influences; and these are to be found only where

riches are attained by the exercise of creative thought, without

strife or rivalry.

You can aim at nothing so great or noble, I repeat, as to become

rich; and you must fix your attention upon your mental picture

of riches, to the exclusion of all that may tend to dim or obscure

the vision.

You must learn to see the underlying TRUTH in all things; you

must see beneath all seemingly wrong conditions the Great One

Life ever moving forward toward fuller expression and morecomplete happiness.

It is the truth that there is no such thing as poverty; that there is

only wealth.

Some people remain in poverty because they are ignorant of the

fact that there is wealth for them; and these can best be taught by

showing them the way to affluence in your own person and

practice.

Others are poor because, while they feel that there is a way out,

they are too intellectually indolent to put forth the mental effort

necessary to find that way and by travel it; and for these the very

best thing you can do is to arouse their desire by showing them

the happiness that comes from being rightly rich.


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Others still are poor because, while they have some notion o

science, they have become so swamped and lost in the maze o

metaphysical and occult theories that they do not know which

road to take. They try a mixture of many systems and fail in all.

For these, again, the very best thing, to do is to show the rightway in your own person and practice; an ounce of doing things

is worth a pound of theorizing.

The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make

the most of yourself.

You can serve God and man in no more effective way than by

getting rich; that is, if you get rich by the creative method and

not by the competetive one.

Another thing. We assert that this book gives in detail the

principles of ; and if that is true, you

do not need to read any other book upon the subject. This may

sound narrow and egotistical, but consider: there is no more

scientific method of computation in mathematics than by

addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; no other

method is possible. There can be but one shortest distance between two points. There is only one way to think

scientifically, and that is to think in the way that leads by the

most direct and simple route to the goal. No man has yet

formulated a briefer or less complex "system" than the one set

forth herein; it has been stripped of all non-essentials. When you

commence on this, lay all others aside; put them out of your

mind altogether.

Read this book every day; keep it with you; commit it to

memory, and do not think about other "systems" and theories. I

you do, you will begin to have doubts, and to be uncerta

Documents

Wallace Wattles - The Science of Getting Rich